WHY PEOPLE WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES

In 1951 the Tibet Autonomous Region came under the control of the People’s Republic of China. Although part of the Chinese state, the government of Tibet and Tibetan social structure remained largely in place in the Tibet Autonomous Region until the 1959 Tibetan uprising, when the Dalai Lama fled into exile and after which the Government of Tibet was dissolved.

The Tibetan government in exile is based in Dharamsala, India, and the worldwide exile population is estimated at approximately 128,014: India 94,203; Nepal 13,514; Bhutan 1,298; and the rest of the world 18,999 (Demographic Survey of Tibetans in Exile 2009, by Planning Commission of Central Tibetan Administration)

Under the United States' 1990 Immigration Act, 1,000 Tibetans living in exile in India, Nepal and Bhutan were chosen, via lottery, to receive U.S. visas. In 1993, Vermont became one of 25 resettlement sites in the United States. However, unlike other immigrants who came to Vermont as refugees, Tibetans were identified as “displaced persons” and received no financial support from the U.S. government. Instead, Vermonters had to create a private nonprofit, Burlington’s Tibetan Resettlement Project, to support Tibetans in beginning life in Vermont.

WHY PEOPLE WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES:

Burundi’s first democratically elected president was assassinated in 1993. His death led to widespread violence between Tutsi and Hutu factions and to the deaths of more than 200,000 Burundians over a period of nearly a dozen years. During this conflict hundreds of thousands of Burundians were internally displaced or became refugees in neighboring countries. The first refugees from Burundi were resettled in Vermont in 2004.

BURUNDIANS IN VERMONT

Burundian Community of Vermont Celebration (The Burundian Community of Vermont’s celebration with cultural dances, drumming and children’s games. Remarks by the President of the Burundian American Association.)

WHY PEOPLE WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country with a long history that, for most of the 20th century, was part of the nation of Yugoslavia. When Bosnia declared its independence in 1992, Bosnian Serbs—supported by neighboring Serbia and Montenegro— responded with armed resistance aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines.

The ensuing conflict, accompanied by massive human rights abuses, forced over half of Bosnia’s population of 4.4 million from their homes. An estimated 1.3 million people were internally displaced, approximately 500,000 fled to neighboring countries, and some 700,000 became refugees in Western Europe. The first Bosnian refugees were resettled in Vermont in 1993.

Europe and Eurasia: Bosnia and HerzegovinaSite that addresses Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the conflict in Kosovo. Addresses a range of issues from business development to social work. Under the banner of Bosnia- Herzegovina are links a wide variety of pages including stories from those directly impacted by USAID programs, the country profile and selected reports.

WHY PEOPLE WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES:

The new nation of Somalia was formed in 1960 from territories formerly controlled by Britain and Italy. In 1969 a coup resulted in repressive, authoritarian rule and the persecution, jailing, and torture of political dissidents. With this regime’s collapse in 1991 the country descended into turmoil, factional fighting, and anarchy.

Political violence during this time drove thousands of people from their homes. The first refugees from Somalia were resettled in Vermont in 2003.

SOMALI BANTU IN VERMONT

Below: Excerpts from an interview with Mohamed Abdi, President of SBCAVT, discussing the organization and its goals.

Music of the Somali Bantu in Vermont: Music, Identity and Refugees, Thesis by Simeon Chapin, Tufts University, August 2007

The first known study of Somali Bantu music culture in the U.S., this thesis documents their music in relocation. Thesis submitted by Simeon Chapin, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Music (Ethnomusicology), Tufts University, August 2007.

WHY PEOPLE WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES:

Islamic-oriented military regimes have controlled Sudan since it became independent of Anglo-Egyptian co-rule in 1956, and political violence there has displaced millions of people in two prolonged civil wars. These conflicts were fueled by northern economic, political, and social domination of largely non-Muslim, non-Arab southern Sudanese. The Lost Boys of Sudan (displaced and/or orphaned during the second civil war) and the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur are well known to most Americans. Sudanese refugees were first resettled in Vermont in 1998.

WHY PEOPLE WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES:

Burma was administered as a province of British-controlled India until 1937 when it became a separate self-governing colony. Civil war broke out when Burma became independent of Britain in 1948. Since 1988 the country has been controlled by a repressive military government, which crushed student protests and imprisoned political dissidents. Political violence and widespread human rights abuses have forced Burmese people of all ethnicities to flee their homes. The first Burmese refugees were resettled in Vermont in 2008.

WHY PEOPLE WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES:

With the withdrawal of US forces from South East Asia in 1975, the communist Pathet Lao took control of the government of Laos ending a six-century-old monarchy and sending refugees streaming across the border into Thailand. These refugees were eventually resettled internationally and were the first contemporary refugee population resettled in Vermont. The first Lao refugees were resettled in Springfield in 1980.